Senior HVAC Mechanical Engineer / Estimator (006-1129)

​​Looking for Filipino (Philippines-based) candidates Job Role: Senior HVAC Mechanical Engineer / Estimator Work Schedule: This is a full-time role Australia Timezone Salary range: AUD 2000-3000 / Monthly Who We Are: At Hunt St we help Australian companies directly hire top 5% remote talent in the Philippines.

You will be hired directly by the client, typically as an independent contractor. We are not an outsourcing agency. All of our roles are 100% remote so you'll be able to work from home.

Who The Client Is: Our client is a reputable Queensland-based company specialising in the design, installation, and maintenance of commercial HVAC-R (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration) systems.

Role Overview: We are seeking an exceptional Senior Mechanical Engineer / Estimator to become a key technical member of our estimating and engineering team. You will be joining an established team of experienced estimators and engineers. This is not a role where you'll be building processes from scratch or working independently.

Instead, you'll collaborate with a high-performing team, contribute as a senior technical resource, and be supported by colleagues in a growing business. This is a senior-level position that combines mechanical engineering, commercial estimating, design review, and technical coordination.

We are looking for someone who is technically strong, detail-oriented, and genuinely passionate about delivering high-quality work. The ideal candidate is seeking a long-term opportunity where they can make a meaningful contribution and continue to grow professionally.

We're particularly interested in someone who enjoysfinding technical and commercial opportunities that others overlook. The right person is energized by reviewing consulting engineers' tender documentation, identifying gaps, ambiguities, and risks, and using those insights to develop competitive and commercially sound estimates.

You will work closely with Australian-based estimating and project teams and become one of the organization's key technical resources. This is a client-facing and supplier-facing role.

You will communicate directly with Australian builders, clients, consultants, suppliers, and subcontractors via email and other written correspondence, representing the business professionally and independently. WHAT THIS ROLE IS NOT We are not seeking a CAD operator or a junior engineer. This is a senior seat.

We are looking for someone capable of thinking independently, identifying risks, challenging documentation, and supporting projects from tender through to construction — someone who can hold their own in a room full of experienced people and make the team around them better. THE TEAM YOU ARE JOINING You will not be working alone.

The client already has an established estimating and engineering team, and this role is a deliberate addition to it as the business grows. You will be surrounded by experienced estimators, engineers and project people, both in Australia and offshore, who you can learn from and contribute to. Your work will be seen, valued and built upon.

For the right person this is a place to grow into one of our most senior and trusted technical people over time. The successful candidate will ideally possess:

Mechanical Engineering Degree

5–7+ years relevant experience

Strong Australian commercial HVAC experience

Excellent written and spoken English

Working electrical services knowledge

CAMEL experience (high bonus)

Accurate heat loads and equipment selections

Strong controls, BMS and control logic depth

High attention to detail

Strong commercial awareness

Excellent engineering judgement

Ability to work independently

Strong communication skills

Confidence dealing directly with Australians

Genuinely engaged — takes pride in the work

Excited by finding gaps in tender documents

Loves value engineering and chasing cost savings

Loyal, with a long-term career mindset

Wants to be excellent, not just employed

Requirements Estimating

Review mechanical drawings and specifications

Perform quantity take-offs

Prepare commercial HVAC estimates

Review tender documentation

Identify missing scope

Identify scope gaps between mechanical and electrical

Identify commercial risks

Prepare RFIs

Prepare tender clarifications

Issue enquiries to suppliers and subcontractors

Review subcontract quotations

Review supplier quotations

Assist with value engineering

Assist with pricing strategies

Review project programmes for estimating impacts

Mechanical Engineering

Review HVAC system designs

Develop practical Design & Construct solutions

Review Australian Standards compliance

Interpret the NCC

Review equipment selections

Review mechanical specifications

Review controls philosophy

Review electrical requirements of mechanical plant

Define the mechanical / electrical scope split

Identify engineering risks

Assist with system optimisation

Support technical decision making

Drafting & BIM

Produce shop drawings

Produce coordinated services drawings

Produce as-built drawings

Review architectural coordination

Review structural coordination

Coordinate with electrical and hydraulic services

Support clash detection

Maintain drawing revisions

Review equipment schedules for completeness and coordination.

Project Support

Support Project Managers

Support Site Supervisors

Support Estimators

Assist procurement

Liaise with suppliers

Liaise with subcontractors

Raise and track purchase orders in SimPro

Maintain job costing and cost records in SimPro

Assist commissioning documentation

Assist O&M manuals

Assist project close-out documentation

Maintain accurate records in company systems

We are looking for a proactive and dedicated individual to join our team and contribute to our success. If you meet the above requirements and are looking for a challenging and rewarding role, that is long-term focused we encourage you to apply. Artificial Intelligence

The client actively uses ChatGPT and AI as part of its engineering and estimating workflows.

The successful candidate will be expected to embrace AI as a productivity tool rather than avoid it.

Experience using AI for: reviewing specifications, reviewing drawings, drafting RFIs, summarising documentation, engineering research, estimating assistance

We believe AI will become an essential engineering tool over the next decade. We are looking for someone who embraces new technology and continually looks for ways to improve accuracy, efficiency and decision-making through AI. REQUIRED TECHNICAL SKILLS Excellent understanding of: AREA SYSTEMS AND TOPICS

Air conditioning

Air conditioning systems · Packaged and split systems · VRF / VRV · Chilled water · DX systems · Air handling units · Fan coil units · Plant rooms

Ventilation

Ventilation systems · Outside air · Relief air · Stairwell pressurisation

Exhaust systems

Smoke exhaust · Toilet exhaust · Kitchen exhaust · Car park ventilation

Distribution Ductwork · Pipework · Insulation · Acoustic treatment · Fire dampers and penetrations Refrigeration - Refrigeration concepts · Refrigerant pipework · Refrigerant selection and compliance Controls and BMS Controls philosophy · Control components · BMS integration · Interface with the electrical trade Commissioning TAB · Commissioning · Witness testing · Defects and completion Documentation - Equipment selection · Mechanical specifications · Equipment schedules · HVAC coordination ELECTRICAL KNOWLEDGE This role requires a strong working knowledge of the electrical requirements of mechanical plant.

We are not seeking a qualified electrical engineer, but we are seeking someone who understands where the mechanical scope stops, where the electrical scope starts, and who is responsible for the gap between them.

On Australian commercial projects, the mechanical / electrical interface is one of the most common sources of missed scope and commercial dispute. The successful candidate must be able to see those gaps at tender stage, not at commissioning.

REQUIRED UNDERSTANDING WHAT WE EXPECT YOU TO UNDERSTAND Power requirements - Electrical loads of mechanical plant · Single and three phase · Full load amps · Starting currents · Power factor Supply and distribution - Mechanical switchboards · Distribution boards · Sub-mains · Isolators · Circuit protection · Cable sizing principles Scope split - What the mechanical contractor supplies and installs · What the electrical contractor supplies and installs · Who terminates · Who commissions Controls interface - Control wiring · Field devices · Interlocks · Fire trip and shutdown signals · BMS interface points Motor control - Starters · Variable speed drives · Motor control centres · Control panels Essential services - Smoke exhaust and stairwell pressurisation electrical requirements · Fire mode operation · Emergency power interfaces Compliance - Relevant Australian Standards for the electrical interface · NCC requirements affecting mechanical plant WHY THIS MATTERS You will be expected to read a mechanical specification and an electrical specification together, and tell us what has been left out of both.

ENGINEERING DEPTH WE VALUE The technical skills earlier in this document are the baseline. This section is about depth. The stronger a candidate is across the areas below, the more highly they will be regarded — there is no upper limit here. We would rather hire someone who is genuinely excellent at this than someone who merely meets the minimum.

CALCULATIONS AND SELECTIONS We place a high value on candidates who can perform accurate engineering calculations and equipment selections themselves, not simply read someone else's. THE MORE CAPABLE, THE MORE HIGHLY REGARDED Heat load calculations - Accurate, defensible heat load calculations.

The more accurate and the more confidently you can do them, the better. Outside air requirements - Correct outside air and ventilation rate calculations to the relevant Australian Standards and the NCC. Air conditioning selections - Confident AC selections across a wide range of project sizes and system types.

Fan selections - Correct fan selections — exhaust, supply, relief, smoke and car park — against duty and static. All equipment selections AHUs, FCUs, condensers, pumps, and all associated mechanical plant, selected accurately and commercially. PROJECT RANGE Our projects typically range from around $10,000 to $5,000,000.

We want someone comfortable performing accurate heat loads, outside air calculations and equipment selections across that entire range — from small works through to major commercial jobs. CONTROLS, BMS AND ELECTRICAL DEPTH Depth in controls and the mechanical / electrical interface is one of the strongest differentiators for this role.

The more genuine controls and electrical knowledge a candidate brings, the more highly they will be regarded. DEPTH WE REWARD Control logic - Understanding and writing practical control logic — how a system should actually sequence and respond. Controls understanding - Genuine understanding of controls philosophy, not just naming components.

BMS connections - Different BMS connection types, protocols and integration points. Controllers - Familiarity with different controllers and control hardware across manufacturers. Controls / mechanical / electrical crossover - The more a candidate can join up controls, mechanical and electrical thinking, the more valuable they are to us.

HOW THIS IS WEIGHTED These are not pass/fail requirements. They are a scale. Strength in accurate calculations, equipment selection, control logic, BMS and the electrical interface will lift a candidate above others — the deeper the genuine capability, the higher the regard.

FINDING GAPS AND VALUE ENGINEERING This is the part of the role we care about most, and the part that separates a good candidate from an exceptional one. Consulting engineers' tender documents are rarely complete or perfectly coordinated.

There are almost always gaps, ambiguities, missing scope, over-specified items and better ways to do the same job for less. We want someone who hunts for these instinctively — not because they are told to, but because they find it genuinely satisfying.

The right person treats every tender package as a puzzle to be picked apart, and every job as an opportunity to deliver the same outcome for less cost. This mindset directly protects and improves the margin on our work, and it is central to how the client competes and wins.

WHAT WE EXPECT YOU TO DO FOCUS IN PRACTICE Hunt for gaps at tender stage Read the consultant's drawings and specification critically. Find missing scope, conflicts, ambiguity and undefined responsibility before the price goes out — not after award. Challenge the documentation - Do not accept a consultant's design at face value.

Question it, test it, and raise RFIs where it is unclear, inconsistent or incomplete. Drive value engineering - Actively look for ways to deliver the same performance for less — alternative equipment, simpler routes, smarter staging, better procurement.

Find cost savings across the job - Look for savings throughout the life of the job, not only at tender: supplier haggling, drafting and engineering efficiency, labour reduction, warehouse stock, cranage optimisation.

Advise the estimators - Proactively flag to our estimators where you see cost savings, uplift opportunities or commercial risk while reviewing tender documents. You are their technical eyes on the job.

Turn gaps into position - Convert what you find into RFIs, qualifications, exclusions, variations and value-engineering proposals that protect and improve our margin.

THE MINDSET WE ARE HIRING FOR We want someone who opens a set of consultant's tender documents and feels excited, not overwhelmed — because they know that is exactly where the opportunities are hiding. If finding the gap and engineering the saving is the part of the job you enjoy most, this is the role for you.

SOFTWARE EXPERIENCE Estimating and job management systems The client runs on SimPro. Existing SimPro experience is highly desirable and will be treated as a significant advantage at shortlisting. Where a candidate does not have it, we expect demonstrated ability to learn a job management system quickly and use it properly.

SYSTEM WHAT WE EXPECT SimPro - Job setup and job costing · Raising and tracking purchase orders · Cost centres · Labour and material cost tracking · Contractor works orders · Reporting · Keeping records accurate and current Groundplan - On-screen take-off and measurement · Building and maintaining take-off templates · Consistent, auditable measurement that another estimator can follow BE HONEST ABOUT YOUR LEVEL If you have used SimPro or Groundplan, tell us what you actually did in them and for how long.

We will ask. We would rather train a strong engineer on our systems than hire someone who overstated their experience. Drawing, coordination and general software SOFTWARE EXPECTED CAPABILITY AutoCAD - Strong. Producing and marking up mechanical drawings. Revit - Strong. Modelling mechanical services and producing coordinated documentation.

Navisworks - Strong. Clash detection and services coordination. Bluebeam - Strong. Drawing mark-up, measurement and document review. Microsoft Excel - Strong. Cost sheets, comparisons, schedules and take-off summaries. Microsoft Outlook / email - Strong. Professional written correspondence with Australian stakeholders.

Engineering software — high bonus points Experience with dedicated HVAC engineering software is a significant plus and will earn high bonus points at shortlisting. The more experienced and capable the candidate, the more highly they will be regarded. SOFTWARE WHY IT EARNS BONUS POINTS CAMEL - Strong CAMEL experience is highly valued.

The more experienced and accurate a candidate is in CAMEL — for heat load calculations, outside air, and equipment and AC selections — the higher they will be regarded.

Other heat load / selection tools Any credible heat load, psychrometric or manufacturer selection software experience is a plus, provided the candidate genuinely understands the engineering behind it.

CAMEL AND CALCULATIONS If you are experienced in CAMEL and confident performing accurate heat loads, outside air calculations and equipment selections with it, make that clear in your application.

For this role it is a genuine advantage, not a footnote. 10 AUSTRALIAN KNOWLEDGE Strong understanding of: Australian Standards National Construction Code Commercial HVAC systems Australian tender documentation Australian specifications Design & Construct projects Construct-only projects Shop drawing standards Mechanical coordination Australian construction terminology How Australian builders and consultants operate Australian procurement and lead times DESIGN & CONSTRUCT VS CONSTRUCT-ONLY You must understand the difference and why it matters commercially.

On a Design & Construct job the design risk is ours. On a construct-only job a design change is the client's risk and a legitimate variation. Knowing which one you are looking at, and pricing it accordingly, is fundamental to this role. COMMUNICATION AND ENGLISH This is a direct-contact role.

You will not sit behind an Australian staff member who forwards your work on your behalf. You will write to Australian builders, clients, consultants, suppliers and subcontractors under your own name, and what you send represents the client. For that reason, written and spoken English must be of a high standard.

This is a genuine requirement of the role, not a preference.

WHO YOU WILL DEAL WITH DIRECTLY STAKEHOLDER TYPICAL DIRECT CONTACT - Builders and clients Tender queries · RFIs · Clarifications · Progress and technical correspondence Consultants - Design queries · Technical clarifications · Challenging documentation where it is unclear, inconsistent or incomplete Suppliers - Enquiries · Equipment selections · Pricing · Lead times · Chasing quotations · Negotiating Subcontractors - Scope enquiries · Quotation review · Clarifying inclusions and exclusions The Team - Estimators · Project Managers · Site Supervisors · Management WRITTEN ENGLISH You must be able to, without assistance: Write a clear, professional email to an Australian builder Write an RFI that is specific and unambiguous Write tender qualifications and exclusions that hold up commercially Summarise a technical issue in plain language Challenge a consultant politely but firmly Chase a supplier without causing offence Write correspondence that needs no editing before it is sent Understand Australian tone, idiom and directness SPOKEN ENGLISH You must be able to hold a technical conversation on a video call with Australian staff, suppliers and consultants — following the discussion at normal Australian speaking pace, asking questions, and being clearly understood.

HOW THIS WILL BE ASSESSED English will be assessed directly at interview through live discussion and a short written exercise. Please do not apply if your written English requires correction before it can be sent to a client. COMMERCIAL SKILLS The successful c